Coaxial connectors include a center contact closest to the connector axis, a second contact that lies around and coaxial with the first contact, and possibly one or more additional contacts that lie around the second contact. One example is a cable that includes a twisted pair of wires forming cable conductors and a grounded shield around them.
A common approach for connecting the conductors of a twisted wire pair to the first and second coaxial contacts, is to form the first and second contacts with rear ends that are laterally spaced so their rear ends lie on opposite sides of the connector axis. A hole in the rear end of each contact receives a cable conductor, which is soldered or crimped in place to terminate it. One disadvantage of this approach is that the coaxial contacts may be disturbed and shifted during contact insertion and crimping or soldering, especially when the contacts are pulled out of a housing or shell for such terminations and then must be reinserted. Another disadvantage is that if the cable conductors are to be removed from a connector, this may lead to the coaxial contacts being unsuitable for reuse, as a result of crimping or of remaining solder in their holes.
The construction of the first and second contacts with their rear ends on laterally opposite sides of the connector axis, can result in a connector of large diameter. Another approach is to form a cable conductor-receiving hole at the axis of the inner contact, and to form a cable-receiving hole in the second conductor at a distance from the hole in the first conductor. This also results in a connector of large diameter. A coaxial connector of minimum diameter which avoided disturbance to the coaxial contacts during termination to the conductors of a cable and which permitted easy disconnection of the connector from the cable conductors, would be of value.